Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

LightNews

Neil Carpenter

@neilcar.bsky.social

71 followers 82 following 300 posts

Technologist, street photographer, anti-fascist

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 1h

At one point, Cybereason's Mac EDR had a persistent memory leak that would routinely take down my work laptop. Cybereason's solution was to have my security team turn off all of the actual detections in their client so it ran but did nothing.

I have a hard time taking them seriously.

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 5h

I probably should've Randomly capitalized words For no apparent Reason. That seems to be a pretty accurate precursor of getting blocked.

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 5h

a small frog is sitting on a marble surface .

Alt: a small frog is sitting on a marble surface, wearing a top hat

media.tenor.com

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 5h

I was honestly worried about that but committed to the bit anyway.

In 2025, it's really difficult to tell parody from reality.

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 5h

Don't you realize that They must release the Epstein files before more beans are spilled?

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 15h

Something to think about as the regime denies (or, perhaps, embraces) the impact of America's structural racism.

More on the stunning exhibit here: www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/...

Witnessing Humanity: The Art of John Wilson - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The exhibition features over 100 artworks made over the course of Wilson’s career, many of which have not been shown before.

www.metmuseum.org

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 15h

Nazi officials studied American legal structures promoting white supremacy-specifically anti-miscegenation laws and genocidal policies toward Indigenous people-to develop their own heinous platform.

3/3

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 15h

He portrayed the pain of Black soldiers as they prepared to fight-and perhaps die-abroad for freedom and rights they did not possess in their own country. By linking these moral atrocities, Wilson illuminated a historical fact:

2/3

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 15h

Saw this text in the John Wilson exhibit at the Met and it really resonated in 2025:

During the 1940s, Wilson explored parallels between fascism and genocide overseas and the racial discrimination and violence Black people experienced in the United States.

1/3

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 15h

I didn't even know how much I wanted this.

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 15h

"What if we remade John Cougar Mellencamp's good album but made it boring?"

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 18h

Barenaked Ladies - Lovers in a Dangerous Time •

YouTube video by kelsman59

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Neil Carpenter

Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 20h

I thought this was lovely.

"A few years ago I received a DM from Zohran Kwame Mamdani. Only recently did I discover its existence. It was a very unusual DM—especially coming from a local assemblyman who would soon be running for higher office. He had very little name recognition at the time, and could have benefited from publicity. But unlike the thousands of messages I’ve received from people with something to promote, Zohran did not ask to be featured on Humans of New York. Instead he asked if he could introduce me to taxi drivers that were struggling beneath the burden of debt. Coming from a man with political ambitions, this self-denying request was so strange as to be almost singular. I don’t endorse politicians on Humans of New York. But I’ll endorse a good man. And it was a good man who cleared 30 minutes from his schedule yesterday to swing by Grand Central and visit Dear New York’s Vanderbilt Hall Exhibition. Nearly fifty-student artists were visiting that day with their families, and I thought a surprise visit from this widely-loved future mayor would be a special memory for all of them. Before Zohran’s arrival I was convinced I’d made a terrible mistake. The exhibit was filled to capacity with adult visitors. Dear New York is self-funded so there was very little staff and security for crowd control. In the crush of people I was almost certain this special day for the kids would devolve into thirty minutes of selfie requests. But everyone rose to the occasion."

black text on white background

"Hundreds of adults quickly cleared the room and stood outside the exhibit. Eleven very notable adult photographers are also featured in the show, but even they took a step back, so that these students could briefly have the stage to themselves. Each child stood by their work and Zohran was able to meet all of them, one at a time, and honor their contributions to the most-visited art show in New York City. Thanks to everyone who ceded the stage yesterday to make this moment possible. Thank you Zohran for literally sitting down on the floor so that these young artists could feel so tall. Thanks for continually centering other people in your life and work. And thank you, for being such an important part of Dear New York."

A large group of children and adults pose together indoors in front of a sign reading "DEAR." A man in a suit sits cross-legged in front, surrounded by smiling kids. The background features an ornate architectural detail.

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 20h

Maybe Trump just doesn't know what the word 'hoax' means.

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 1d

This is expected but, still, likely to be incredibly damaging to actual national security.

Techmeme @techmeme.com · 1d

Sources: the Trump administration cut 176 CISA jobs last week as part of laying off 4,000+ US federal workers, and is likely to make further mass CISA layoffs (Cynthia B Brumfield/Metacurity)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

Reposted by Neil Carpenter

Lynn Becker @cmgiulini.bsky.social · 2d

After spending 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, evidence hidden by the prosecution reversed his conviction. Rather than finally enjoying freedom, ICE abducted him for deportation

Depraved.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 2d

Hopefully, you'll be asking if they've been able to find a job after they served time for war crimes.

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 2d

Have you seen any press coverage of this? There are so many stories about ICE crashing into people that I can't seem to find anything else on this particular occasion.

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 2d

I was trying to find more info on this and there have been so many ICE car crashes in Chicago that it’s impossible.

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 3d

“YOU hit HER.”

CHICAGO - Trump’s ICE goons ram into a passing car after snatching someone, then brutally drag the female driver of the car they hit out of her car with guns drawn and arrest her too. (Her brother says she’s a citizen)

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 3d

"One surprising thing about the study of language and linguistics: The more you learn, the less pedantic you become and the more you revel in the glorious, rip-roaring chaos of iterative creativity."

- @jesszafarris.bsky.social, Useless Etymology

My relationship with English in a paragraph.

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 3d

I can't speak for randos on the Internet but security people have a bad habit of looking at a solution and spinning "Well, but, if the moon was _full_ AND China has secretly developed a fully-functional quantum computer, then..."

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 3d

I still think about him every time somebody throws out James Bond shit like "well, they could hack Signal".

Neil Carpenter @neilcar.bsky.social · 3d

Way back in the early 2000s, while I was still a network enineer before I moved into cybersecurity, I had a call from a Lt. Col. who was the deputy head of cybersecurity for a Fed agency. He needed to know the risks of disabling SMB signing and, he said, "Don't give me any James Bond shit."

Reposted by Neil Carpenter

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 4d

EL PASO — a family says ICE showed up at their house looking for migrants and shot and KILLED THEIR DOG, then didn’t help them as the agent ran away and was not identified.

kfoxtv.com/news/local/e...

Reposted by Neil Carpenter

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 5d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.